Selvage trimmer for box looms



Aug. 23, 1932. C, R KRONOFF 1,872,979

SELVGE TRIMMER FOR BOX LOOMS Filed June 17 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l bo 1E Jl 69 FIL-r. 5 55 nmfentor' @arence R .Kronoff A Qttornag s Aug.23,1932.V C, R, KRNOFF y 1,872,979

SELVAGE TRIMMER FOR BOX LOOMS .Filed Jun 17, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2mfentor @avenue RKronoff Patented Aug. 23, 1932 UNITED STATS PATENToFvFicl-i:

CLARENCE R. KRONOFF, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORTO CROMPTO &IKNOLIESY LOOM WORKS, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OFMASSACHUSETTS Application filed June 17,

This invention relates to improvements in selvage trimmers for drop boxlooms and it is the general object of the invention to improve thesedevices so rthat the usual form of lay may be employed at the drop boxend of the loom. y

y In drop box looms there are employed two or more shuttles of which oneis active and the remainder inactive. In order that weaving-'maycontinue when an inactive shuttle is returned to action it is necessarythat the weft ends be anchored at some point', and this ordinarily theselvage of the cloth in the usual form of dobby box loom. If ashuttleremains inactive lfor a large number of picks andthen returns toaction it forms a loop which must later be trimmed.

When a shuttle moves down to inactive po,- sition there Vis a chancethat its weft end will extend across the race of the lay to be broken bythe active shuttle. In order to prevent this breakage it is customaryeither tol omit the box mouth from the lay and make it a part of theshifting shuttle boxes, or, `if a box mouth is employed on the lay, itis open at the front so that the weft end can extend from the selvagedown infront of the lay to the idle shuttle beneaththe cloth without ,vextending across the race.

Where a clamp is employed to hold the weft of an idle shuttle it isdesirable' that it be placed as near the shuttle boxes as possible so asnot to interfere with varying widths of clothwoven in the loom. It willmeans for confining the thread to azone of small compass which willpermit the use of a comparatively small clamp and at the same timepermit the location of the clamp at a point substantially remo-ved fromthe selvage and in the vicinity of the Vshuttle boxes.

SELVAGE TRIMMER FOR BOX LOOMS 1931. Serial No.l545,0/10.

front of the lay and so located that a thread extending from it tothe-idle shuttlev will 'have no vopportunity to fall on` the'shuttlerace. The distance between the breast beam and the lay when the latteris in its extreme forward position on certain typesv of looms does notpermit the mounting of the clamp on the lay in such a position thatitwill always hold the weft ends in front ofthe lay. It is accordingly afurther object of myinvention to mount the clamp independently of thelay so that the same may be locatedl relatively close to the lay whenvthelat'ter is in front position, but movable forwardly relatively to thelay so as toprevent the weft ends roo from falling on the shuttle raceduring the time that the lay is in picking position.- One form of' myinvention is adaptable to looms where the minimum distance between layand breast beam does not require arear move- 'ment of the clamprelatively to the lay, in vwhich case the clamp is given a rearwardmovement each piel. v

Because of the varying widthsfof thereeds used in loom lays and theconsequent uncertainty as to whether suliicient room behind the reedline will be available forthe movement of the clamp transverse of thelay, I prefer to use a clamp which moves ina plane parallel to the loomreed. -As the lay moves IOV rearwardly the weft endv assumes a diagonal'position with respect to the lay, thus comingf "f within the range ofthe clamp. The clamping is preferably operated after the active shuttlehas been picked so as not to catch the thread of the active shuttle. I

It is a further object of my `invention 4to y provide a pair of threadengaging fingers or the like which will swing to a position from theselva-ge toward the boxes to engage the weft thread of an idle shuttleand bring the same within the field rof action of the clamp. Theanglewhich is defined by theVV upwardly and' `downwardly extendingthreads has its .vertex at the selvage and the lingers extend one aboveand the other below the cloth so as to locate the idle weft between themand the path of movement of the clamp preferably covers a Zone which isVsomewhat larger than the distance between the two fingers.

l/Vith these and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, myv

invention resides in the combination and arrangement of partshereinafter described andv set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, whereina convenient embodiment of myinvention is set forth, v Y

Fig. l is a diagrammatic view of a. loom showing the various parts of myinvention applied thereto, the preferred forni of cam being shown,

Fig. 2 is a detailed front elevation `of the drop box end offthe loomtaken in .the direction of arrow 2, l, and showing the .clamp open,

is' an end elevatioirtaken in the .direction of arrow 3, Fig. 2 showingthe mangner in which the fingers control the weft,

.,Fig. 4 isa vertical transverse section' Vner. of operating the'weftlingers `by the clamp., and y Fig. 7 is a detail diagrammatic viewshowing a modified form ofv cam to be used when vthe clamp movesrearwardly each pick of theloom.; Y I f Referring to; the drawings,Ihave shown a loomframe 10 having a lay l1 and a breast `beam'lQ. Theusualbottom shaft is shown'at v13, while the connections between the layand the` top shaftftogether -with the latter `are abovev or below vtherace plate.

omitted. The lay carries box guidesone of which' is shown `at 14 toreceive a gang of boxes l5 shown herein as havingA fourcells 16, v17, 18 and 1,9, respectively. The drop boxes are raised and lowered bymechanism notshown but well understood in the art-so .that any one ofthe four cellscan be movedto picking position in alignment with thevrace plate20 ofthelay. .y During operation of the loom the shuttlesVwill be .called into. action .one after'another depending upon thepattern, certain 4of the shuttles Valways* being idle and located eitherIt s to be ,understood with reference to Fig. l that the lay moves'backand forth. between the full and dotted line-positions and that theshuttle y is pickedwhen the lay is about midway between these positionsand moving rearwardly.

v A s shown in Fig. 5 the cloth C hasa 'fell F which is formed by thereedR of the loom.

When the lay is on front center or vin its extremeforward position thewefts will assume the position shown generally at W in Fig. 5, whereaswhen the lay is in its extreme rearward position the threads willAassume a l more oblique position'such as indicated at W in the samefigure. The matter thus far ,describedis comino in bex'loomsgand ofvitself forms' no part of Vmy lpresentV invention. Y

y-e'ect `I provide two separate mechanisms-one ofi-'which is a threadplacerto act on the weft vends extending from the se'lvage to the idleshuttles .to` cause said weft ends to pass through a relatively smallarea at a point consiy era'bly removed from the selvage, and the :othermechanism being a clamp tohold the weft ends afterthey'have beensoplaced. The threadpiaeer comprises an uprightV shaft rotatablymoun'tedin vafpair of spaced .vertically aligned bearings Sland 32 which may beheld in any approved manner .to the loom frame. A collar `33 is securedto the shaft and ieceives..one .end 'of a twistV spring 347 the otherend of which is received by the top bearing 3l.' The effectof saidspringis to .turn the shaft in a right hand or Clockwise direction as viewedinl Fig. 5. To the Vupper end of this shaft is secured a head 35 fromwhich project upper and lower fingers 36 and 3 7, respectively. Thesefingers lie oneabove and the'other below the cloth C and are limited intheir forward movement by athreadcutting templeT which engages one orthe other vof saidffingers,preferably the upper one. v

sliownin F ig'.r 2 vtheang'le rwhich is defined by Vthe w eft endsextending to the extrenieupper and lower positions has its .vertexIbetween the fingers so that no matter "what angularfposition the weftend may assume with respectv to the cloth' andthe lay it will start froma .point which is vertically betweenthetwofingers;l Therefore, as thelatter swing from the full tothe dotted line (position shown in Fig. 5,the' 'thread of .the

previously active shuttle will be engaged by one or the o .therfof thefingers, depending upon the. .direction `of. shift Aof the shuttleboxes.` As shown in Fig.'2 an upwardly: e`xtending thread is kmovedffromthe position shown aftA in full lines to that shown at B in ydottedlinesand itis to be understood thatfa 'similar bend or' *deflectionrwould be Yproduced inthe weft of any'shuttle regardless of the"direction yin which ithad been moved from active position. #The secondmechanism constitutes a clamp and includes a'. bell. crank lever 40pivotally movable about afixed axis 4l held in lany approved manner totheI looniframe. A link cani 47 of preferred 'form by meansof a ...11

ies

. secured to the rodreceives the downward l'ies las thrust of acompression spring 55 the edect of 'which is to lower the rod so that asecond collar 56 also fixed to the rodiwill engage the lower bearing andactas afstop to limit downward movement of the rod 53. The upper end ofthe rod is formed as arack 57 which meshes with a small pinion58-secured to a clamping blade'59 and movable about an axis'60 securedto the lever arm 50. f

As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 6 lprovide the arm 50 with a clamping'surface' 6l and mount on the arm a yielding clamping element 62 whichdefines with the surface a notch for the reception of the Sciamp-59- Themembers 61 and 62 extend vertically and below the lower linger, but Iclaim no novelty for the specific form of these members. TheV lower endof the rod has a laterally extending foot 63v which is adapted forengagement with a trip 64V secured to the loomside.

In operation, when the lay is in forward position on front center asshown in full lines in Fig. 5, the twist spring 34 will `hold thefingers 36 and 37 in their forward position and the clamp will be asnear thev lay as convenient to permit the latter to approach the breastbeam. lvVhen. the parts `are in this position the weft W will extendacross `the shuttle race or top of the layfrom the'selvage toward theactive shuttle.` As the lay moves rearwardly from the full toward thedotted line position shown in Figs. l and 4 the boxes will completetheir shifting movement, carrying the previously acting shuttle eitherto a position above or below the shuttle race 20. During this backwardmovement the clamp will also start to move rearwardly, but at a slowerrate than does the lay, to permit the arm 50 to engage andimpartmovement to the fingers and turn4 them rearwardly against theaction of spring 34 without requiring the rear ends of said fingers toengage the reed.

After the active shuttle has been picked the thread placing fingers and,clamp may move rearwardly at the samerate as does the lay, or at anyother desired rate..` The preferred form of the cam .is so timedas tocause engagement of the foot 63 with the trip 64 during the backwardmovement of tlie clamp after the active shuttle has been picked so thatthe only thread extending from the adjacentselvage is that leading tothe idle shuttle. The resultant downward molvement of the clamp towardthe'members 61 j p y temple will cut that part of the weft `extendand 62takes place while the thread is in tof spring 34.,

diagonal vposition indicated in dotted lines at'W in Fig. 5, and in fulllines in Fig.'y 6,

softhat although saidc'lamp' moves ,inla plane substantially. parallelto the lay the thread will neverthelessbe disposed obliquely withrespect to said clamp and be actedupon by the' latter. The range"V ofmovement 'of the clamp extends preferably above land below the fingers36and 37.. As soon as the thread has'been 'moved between the membersl and-62'bythe clamp it will be held by said mem-l bers so that subsequentremoval of the blade 59 will not `withdraw the thread. I

During the forward movement of the lay Y' full line position shown-inFig. '2. Duringv forwardmovement of the lay the lingers 1- will also bemoved from the dotted to the full line position shown in Fi g. 5 by theaction Itis to be understood that the turning movement of the fingersabout their vertical axis is due vto engagement of the lever 50 with oneof said fingers as indicated in Fig. 6,

land it is further to be understood that cam 47 can be shaped to producethe movements already described in connection with the clamp. It isalsoto be understood that-the "active shuttle is on the drop box side ofthe loom only onalternate beats and it istherefore sufficient to `havethe motions already described in. connection with the fingers and "clamptake place only on those beats of the Vformed as todelayrearward-movement of. the clamp on that'pick of the loom when theshuttle leaves thedrop boxes not only for the purposes alreadydescribed, but also to pers lmitthe-active shuttle to pass to the rightof the cutting templeV as viewed in Fig. 5 before the fingers areprojectedacross the path ofv the shuttle.

. One important advantage to be derived from delaying rearward movementof the Vclamp vas the lay moves backwardly is to draw the thread fromthe clamp to a position forwardly of the shuttle race, so that saidthread may move downwardly into the space 7 5, see Fig. 5, should theactive shuttle be shifted downwardly. Subsequent passage of the activeshuttle over the shuttle race will there# yfore not abr'ade the weftfendextending from the clamp to the idle shuttle.

iso

l5 v Y I' ment of the cloth said fend the retainer .62 `when ,clampmoves forvvardly.w V 1 When a shuttle which has; previously beenrendered idle returnsto action its weft ,end isattached to theclampingmember and weaving may -therefore conti-nue, this end' extending fromthe clampv toward the cuttingtemple after the shuttle has entered theshed sothat during `.continued forward movewill also be cut by thevvtemple cutter.

When' it is desired to have-the clamp move i y.rearwardly eachpick ofthe loom, the cam may be employed having two Ysimilar rises l V8l,:1s-shown ,in the modification illustrated in Fig/7.

From the have provided a selvage trimming device inf iclu'ding twoseparate mechanisms one of which lplaces'the thread ina comparativelyrestrictedV or narrow `zone or area so that it can be acted upon by theother or clamp-ing mechanism, the point of clampingbeingremoved from thelselvage a considerabledisvtance so that cloths of 4varying widthsv canbe woven on the sameloom .without disturbing ,the mechanism. It willalso be seen that the two mechanisms are so constructed that aWeft-endcan extend downwardly infront of ythe lay through the opening 75when a shuttle isshifted lfrom active position downwardly vto anA idle.posit-ion, thereby preventing abrasionby an idle shuttle. f It willfurthermore seenthat the vthread placer and cla-mp maybe controlled bytheir operating cam so `asto move rearwardly only on those-beats of theloom` when there a weft end extending .from the selvag-e l toward theshuttle boxes, the devices bei-n g in normal forward position when theshuttlesarrives inthe drop boxes to' beoiit. of the path of saidshuttle.By mount- .i-ng the mechanisms independently of the'lay lI amenabled togain theadvantage ofa shuttlemoi-ith on the lay so far as positioningfof the thread is concerned-without having the disadvantage incident toa fixed. .shuttle mouth on Sthe lay. f

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that rchanges andmodifications may vbe madel therein by thoseskilled inftheartwithouftdeparting `from the spirit and scope of the invention and Idonotwish-to belimlited to the details herein disclosed, but what cuttingtemple, shifting'A shuttle boxes'movabile vertically on the lay and eachcapable Yof being .in idle'. position, a Vthread placing foregoing itwill v.be seen. .that IY neva- 979 mechanism normally in retractedposition adjacent the selvage, a clamp mechanism mounted independentlyof the lay and mov.- ,able rearwardly in-.a plane parallel to ythepla-nein which'the lay moves, and means to move the placing mechanismfrom the temple toward the boxes lto place the weft of an idle shuttlewithin the range of movement of theclamping mechanism.

`a, lay movable back and forth and a thread 2; In a selvage trimmer yfora loom having 575 cutting temple, shifting shuttle boxes movablevertically on the lay and each capable, of being in idle position, aweftiend clampto seize the thread extending from the selvage to .an idleshuttle, anda thread placerrmovable fromthe selvage to the clampto placethe thread into `operative relation vwith the clamp prior to operationof the latter.

. 3. In a selvage trimmer. for a loom having 185 a lay movable back andforth and a thread Vcutting temple, shifting shuttle boxes movv ablevertically on the lay and each capable of being inidle position, a'weftend clamp invdependentof vthe *lay movable rearwardly being in idleposition7 a weft clamp mounted Aindependently of the lay, means to movethe clamprearwardly -to clamping position after the lay has reachedpicking :position in its rearward movement, and a thread placer to movefrom the selvage toward the shuttle boxes to move a weft end extendingfrom the vselvage cutter to an idle shuttle in the range .of operationslofi the clamp.

5. In a selvage trimmer for a loom having a breast beam and a laymovable towardand from the breast beam, a set of shifting shuttle boxesont-he lay Yeach capable of being in idle position, a clamp independentof the lay and located between the latter and the breast beam, means tohold the clamp stationary during the latter part of the movement of thelay 'toward the breast beam, vother'means tov move the clamp Vfrom thebreast beam toward the` lay when the latter has passed picking position,and a thread placer movable from the selvage toward the boxes to placethe weft of an idle shuttle in operative position relatively to theclamp.

6. In a selvage trimmer for a loom having abreast beam and a lay movabletoward fand from the breast beam, a .set of shifting shuttle boxes onthe lay each capable of being in idle position, a clamp independent ofthe lay and CLARENCE R. KRONOFF.

